But God is not a puppeteer and God is not a magic act, God is the ground of our being, the energy of life, the goodness out of which all things are intended to grown to fullness. Yet it is a struggle. How can we possibly equate the two – a good God with a life of tilts and jousts, of bad tries and great travail, the suffering of innocents and the hardship of failure?

To do that takes a spirituality of struggle that owns the pain but also comes to grips with each of its dimensions, with all of its demands. The spirituality of struggle is a process. It is, too, a catalyst and a series of gifts without which we cannot possibly become fully ourselves. But where can we go to trace the process and explore the gifts?

Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope Joan D. Chittister William B. Eerdmans (page 16)